132 MB. C. DABWIN ON THE ACTION OP SEA-WATEB 



and which were put out of doors, I did not change the salt water 

 for fifty-six days, and it became putrid and smelt offensively to a 

 quite surprising degree, especially the water with the cabbage, 

 radish, cress and onion seed, which also gave out strongly the 

 odour of each kind ; so that I thought the putridity would infalli- 

 bly have been communicated to the seeds ; but judging from the 

 seeds of some of the same plants (but not actually from the same 

 lot of seed) placed in salt water often renewed, and likewise kept 

 in the cellar under a less variable temperature, neither the pu- 

 tridity of the water nor the changing temperature had any marked 

 effect on their vitality. Cress seed (Lepidium sativum) and that 

 of JPhalaris Canariensis, after twenty-two days' immersion, were 

 thoroughly dried for a week and then planted ; they germinated 

 pretty well, but the seeds themselves of this particular lot were 

 not very good. At first I tried the seeds after each successive 

 week's immersion, and they germinated at the same period as did 

 seeds of the same kind which had not been salted ; celery and 

 rhubarb seed, however, were somewhat accelerated in their ger- 

 mination. Some kinds of seeds, as of Trifolium incarnatum, Si- 

 napis nigra, peas, kidney and common beans, swelled much in the 

 salt water, and they generally were killed by a short immersion ; 

 but the swollen seeds of Lupinus polyphyllus germinated better 

 than those which did not swell. I was surprised to observe that 

 most of the seeds of Convolvulus tricolor germinated after seven 

 days under the salt water and lived for some time in it ; as did 

 likewise the fresh seed of Tussilago farfara after 9 days ; after 25 

 days I took out some of the young plants of the Tussilago and 

 planted them, and one of them grew : some of the seeds of the 

 garden orache (Atriplex) also germinated under water after 56 

 days' immersion, but I failed in raising the seedlings ; the other 

 seeds of the same lot of the orache germinated excellently after 

 100 days' immersion. 



The total number of seeds tried by Mr. Berkeley and myself 

 amount only to 87, for unfortunately we happened to select some 

 of the same kinds ; in one respect, however, this has been for- 

 tunate, for we have thus tested each other's results, and they 

 accord perfectly as far as they go ; the seed of the tomato, how- 

 ever, germinated better after a month's immersion with Mr. Ber- 

 keley than after only 22 days with me ; but my seed appeared to 

 be old. And this leads me to remark, that I suspect that fresh 

 seed withstands the salt water better than old, but yet good seed ; 

 this was the case with Trifolium incarnatum, PJilox Drumrnondii, 



